Sally escaped in the woods

Not far from here is a wood, a conservation area off Log Inn Road; the wood is untamed for the most part except for a service path that cuts through the center and around the perimeter.

I was looking for an open, natural space to allow Sally off her leash, to ramble and race and run like a dog should: Well, at least as Sally should. So I parked on the side of the road, and we climbed over the low placed loosely fitted chain. Twilight coming on but still an hour hence, soft light filtered down through the leaves and the ground was forgiving from recent rains. After a few yards, I undid Sally's leash. Whenever she got a bit of distance between us, I called her to stay and sit. She did.

We traveled deeper into the wood. I threw a stick and she chased after and carried back the stick (or its cousin) several times. Then just beyond where Sally stood, I spied a burst of movement, tall and muscular, nearly invisible, blended with the palette of colors of the wood. "Sally stay," I commanded and thankfully she did as I envisioned her otherwise bounding off through the woods, relentless in her pursuit of a deer.

I secured her leash and walked a bit more. It seemed the deer (or it may have been Sasquatch - who appears sometimes when the air starts to chill) had left the area. So I let Sally free once more and she wandered and returned and wandered and returned. Although she was growing increasingly confident in the degrees of separation between us. So whenever she returned, I produced treats (ah, bacon).

The sun was moving closer to the horizon and I realized I might have started this adventure much earlier lest I find myself far from the gate and still in the woods (Sasquatch prefers company at sunset). It is at this moment, as my creative thoughts begin firing more brilliantly, that Sally races off into the wood, her nose twitching, her quarters leaping logs and brush as she manically pursues, a zig to the left and a zag to the right.

I shout, I cajole, I offer food. I run and yell, "C'mon Sally. Catch me." She is not interested in catching any human though as she has caught the scent of Sasquatch (okay, maybe it's a deer)and must find it, corral it. Soon I cannot see her and have to leave the access road/path and traipse through the brush, the prickly, the fallen limbs. After a bit, I cannot see the access path anymore even though I know it is there, even though I know if I keep going, I will come ot the access path on the far side, even though I know I am in a contained conservation wood not far from civilasation and will not be lost as I could be in the hills of North Carolina near Little Switzerland. "Sally!" I spot her and take off in that direction but she has hiding skills too and her invisibility coat is blending with the tree trunks and brush. "Sally. Come!" She does not. I go further in. What choice do I have? What else can you do when what you care about goes chasing after the scene of something unknown but has a primal urge compelling it to find the prey and contain it.

I spot her again and because she is dependent on me, because she is vulnerable among the wild things, I cajole her back, leash her up and lead her back out of the wood. I do know that she was joyous in her pursuit and would, no doubt, have responded well if she'd actually encountered Sasquatch - especially if he'd had bacon treats for her!